Eyes of the Heart

Jeremiah 3:7-14
Psalm 84:1-8
Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-19a
Luke 2:41-52

Tim Christoffersen
St. Timothy's
January 4, 2004

Good morning.  I would like to share with you with you a Christmas story that occurred in my presence a week ago Wednesday morning.  I had the privilege of witnessing the spiritual reconciliation of a dying mother and her reborn son. 

            But first, I want to take three images from the readings this morning that shed additional insight, for me, into this Christmas story. The first image comes from the reading from Ephesians. Paul is speaking of his prayers on behalf of the Ephesians. In verse 18 he says, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened…” There are many layers of meaning in that image of the “eyes of the heart.”  The Greek word used is cardia.  We know that word, unfortunately, from cardiac arrest or a heart attack.  Some translations use the word ‘understanding.’ In a sense both are right because the spiritual sense of ‘heart’ in Scripture is ‘understanding.’ It is the sense that all our capacities are involved.  It has the implication of our intelligence, but also our will, our emotions and our soul. There is also the sense in both its physical and spiritual meaning of being the central or inmost part.

            An image I associate with ‘seeing with the eyes of the heart’, is the dialogue between Jesus and the Pharisees regarding the Kingdom of God.  Jesus tells the Pharisees that the Kingdom of God does not come when someone says,  “Here it is” or “There it is” for “the Kingdom of God is within you.” Drawing on Paul’s phrase from this reading in Ephesians, I saw Christ’s presence in that reconciliation with “the eyes of my heart.” I believe it was a taste of the Kingdom of God.

            The second image is that of the 12-year-old Jesus sitting in the temple in Jerusalem among the teachers, asking questions and engaging in dialogue with them.  The aspect of the image that strikes me is the transition that is implied in the image.  In the culture of Jesus’ day, 12 years was about the age when one became an adult.  That strikes us today as difficult to understand when we argue a drinking age of 18 or 21. 

            Yet there is a way that we can relate to the transition going on for Mary and Joseph when we recognize that our kids are becoming teenagers about this age and our influence in their lives is about to take a significant downgrading.  Their friends and the contemporary culture will inexorably begin to have a much greater impact on their lives and we can only hope we have done well our parenting job by this point in time.

            The symbols of the transition are dramatically clear in the reading.  Mary says to Jesus, “Why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”  Jesus replies to Mary, “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” The response makes clear to us that a transition is happening, even though Luke tells us Mary and Joseph did not fully understand what Jesus was saying to them.

            Transitions are like that.  We often don’t see them when they are beginning and we also are prone to resist them for a while before we are overtaken by the events of the transition.  Later when we look back we wonder why it took us so long to figure it out. The important transition for mother and son was their sharing for the first time their spiritual journeys at a time of transition.

            The third image is from the reading in Jeremiah.  Jeremiah is telling us what God has been saying to him about the behavior of Israel and Judah. They have been behaving like prostitutes, turning to every ‘Tom, Dick and Harry’ god.  Israel’s behavior is completely faithless and has no regard for her turning to gods of stone and wood.  Judah is described as unfaithful because she has seen what happened to Israel, her northern neighbor, yet she only ‘pretends’ to be faithful.  The image that is striking is in verse 11.  God says to Jeremiah, “Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah.”  That judgment should strike fear into the hearts of many of us who attend church with some regularity.  These words also seem to foreshadow Jesus’ interactions with the Pharisees, the ‘good citizens’ of his day, and the contrast with his interactions with those outside the system like the tax collectors, lepers and prostitutes.

            God says to Israel, “Return…I will frown on you no longer, for I am merciful.” Change your ways, return to me and I will forgive your sins. The son was a drug addict and an alcoholic when he accepted that Christ died for his sins.  The son’s words were simple and direct. When I spoke with him the night before I met with him and his mother, he told me he was concerned about whether or not his mother was saved.  I told him the answer was ‘yes.’ I said his mother used different words and shared her own understanding through the feelings she experienced.

            The next morning I arrived shortly before the son was scheduled to arrive. Naomi (not her real name) was peaceful and did not appear anxious in the least. When the son arrived a short time later, he seemed a little nervous. They had not seen each other for several years. Both their lives had been tough in different ways. Naomi knew his conversion had been important in his life. When he sat down in the living room there was a sense of peace on his part as well. The gift God had granted to him was the capacity to listen to his mother. He was able to pass by his concern to be assured his mother had been saved. He listened to his mother and there was no distance, no barrier at all between them. The sense of love and reconciliation between them was palpable.

            The Word became flesh and was present in that spiritual reconciliation between a dying mother and her reborn son. The mother shared for the first time the deeply spiritual experience she had as a young mother.  The son told his mother in simple and direct words that he was able to overcome his drug addiction and alcoholism because he believed that Jesus Christ died for his sins and that he has been saved.  He told his mother he prayed every day for the strength to stay clean and sober.  The pride and love in the mother’s eyes were unmistakable.

            I saw with the ‘eyes of my heart’ Christ’s presence in that Christmas story, that very human and spiritual reconciliation between a dying mother and her reborn son.  Amen.